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Friday, May 6, 2011

Regency era romance with vampires. I mean really. How can you get much more fun than that? Looking today at the oh-so-fabulous The Vampire Dimitri, by Colleen Gleason.

THE OFFICIAL BLURB: Dimitri, also known as the Earl of Corvindale, should be delighted that the headstrong Maia Woodmore is getting married. His mortal ward and houseguest has annoyed—and bewitched—the Dracule nobleman too long, and denying his animal cravings grows more excruciating by the day. Miss Woodmore's family has a rather…complicated history with the immortals and she herself possesses a keen sensibility far beyond mere women's intuition. Marriage will give her safety, respectability and everything else a proper young lady could wish for. Everything, that is, except passion. In the looming battle between Dracule factions, all pretenses will shatter as Maia and Dimitri come together in an unholy union of danger, desperation and fiercest desire.

MY THOUGHTS:There are three things (well, at least three) I really love about The Vampire Dimitri.

First, well, it’s vampires. We love vampires, yes?

Second, it’s one of the most unusual non-sequel sequels I’ve ever read. This is the second in the Regency Draculia series, following The Vampire Voss, which came out last month. But instead of picking up where Voss left off, the story runs concurrent to Voss. So we get some of the same scenes but from different viewpoints. Once I got over the jolt of it (hey, wait, I know this scene), I absolutely loved it. You don’t have to read Voss to read Dimitri. It works just fine as a standalone. But if you do read Voss first, it makes for a really rich reading experience. I assume the next title, The Vampire Narcise, which comes out next month, will take the same approach.

Third, this book is just plain good. I liked The Vampire Voss. But I LOVED The Vampire Dimitri. Dimitri, or Earl of Corvindale, is an insufferable, self-martyring member of the peerage, who also has a little problem--he's a vampire, and in this world being vampire means you’ve made a bargain with Satan. The heroine, Maia Woodmore, is a headstrong bit of a brat whose brother’s activities have put her and her sisters into Corvindale’s care. He isn’t happy about that. Neither is the proper Miss Woodmore. You’ll have fun with this one, I promise.

Want to win a copy of The Vampire Dimitri? Who’s your favorite vampire on movie or TV? I’m going to be totally predictable and say Alexander Skaarsgard, Eric from “True Blood.” I never really appreciated 6-4 Scandinavians till, well, you know. You know the drill: +1 for comment, +1 for blog follow, +1 for Twitter follow @Suzanne_Johnson, and +1 for Tweet or Retweet.

23 comments:

There is a Julia Quinn series that does something similar...there is a duke who doesn't know he's a duke, and the duke who thinks he's the duke, and they have to change places. I had a similar experience, thinking, "Wait...haven't I read this alread?", but it worked. I think it takes a pretty good writer to write the same plot twice and keep it interesting!My favorite movie or TV vamp? How's about my boyfriend Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins from Dark Shadows? I have to say that, since he's my boyfriend, and I don't want to hurt his feelings right?

Ohhh, vampires! Okay, I'm totally in love with Spike from Buffy (and I usually hate blond guys but Spike is just...well...Spike!) and Damon Salvatore aka Ian Somerhalder because his eyes are illegal! Too beautiful!

I love the cover....yum =) I love your 3 reasons...I'd love a chance to win this book. My favorite movie vamp would be Stuart Townsend from Queen of the Damned. I did enjoy Edward from Twilight but he was a little to soft for my liking. To teenish ;) + 1 comment+1 gfc follow as Tanyaw1224+1 twitter follow as Tanya1224+1 twittered at https://twitter.com/Tanya1224/status/66590581148762114Tanyaw1224(at)yahoo(dot)com

My favorite vampire from TV or movie, huh? Of course, I love Alexander Skaarsgard as Eric in True Blood. He's soo hot! Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore is another one of my faves. I think he's hot too. Haha. I think they do a good job acting too. It's not just about how pretty they are. Haha.

Hmmm, tough question. I love Damon from Vampire Diaries, but think I'm a little more in love with Eric from True Blood. They both really do it for me :) Bad boys who really walk that line between good and evil and have some serious issues they need to deal with. Tortured souls and oh so hot, but Eric stands out a little more because he has that snarky sense of humor and he is just a little more bad :)